Auto Trader or Ebay

For Auto Dealers across the nation, today’s market is getting harder and harder to handle.  Sales are seeing a downturn after such a long up swing in the market.  To counteract the ever increasing expense of running and maintaining a profitable dealership, dealers need to be savvy in today’s market.
New trends are emerging in today’s market.  Down turn markets always seem to bring out the new ideas and help to hone them.  Internet sales, once a hard to handle and mysterious market, are on the upswing.  Sites like Ebay and Auto Trader are actually selling cars.  In fact they are both selling so many cars that it is getting impossible to ignore selling online.  With Auto Trader and Ebay Motors doing over half of the online sales for vehicles, it is apparent that dealers are figuring out how to sell online with the help of these emerging two giants.
The ease and success of selling online has been evolving and today’s savvy dealer is using both Ebay and Auto Trader to boost sales and gain profit margin in an ever tightening market.  The conventional newspaper advertisement is being replaced on the advertising budget with an online sales budget.  Sales percentages are showing that they are dollars well spent.
Some dealers have gone so far as to hire and train their own internet department.  Other dealers are taking the smart way and hiring a consulting firm that is well versed in online sales.  Whether the dealer is handling online sales in house or hiring it out, the bottom line is the same, better use of the advertising dollar.
Conventional newspaper advertisements have less than 4 people look at a particular vehicle.  Most people are not even looking at the auto advertisements; they are reading  the paper for something else.  11% of all buyers attribute the Internet as the source that led them to the vehicle they purchased versus 9% for newspapers.  Internet customers are looking for a vehicle when they look online.  Could this be why so many are purchasing online?
Ecommerce for the Auto Dealer is becoming more and more necessary.  Being an expert in selling cars and being an internet expert is no longer necessary.  Hiring a consultant firm that is both reasonable in fees and knowledgeable in online auto sales is becoming a must for the successful auto dealer.  Consulting firms for online sales work after the dealer closes for the day and provides sales support 7 days a week.  Helping the dealer to sell online even when they are closed.
Checking out references and sell through percentages is necessary when choosing your internet consulting firm.  Consider which venues they sell on and are familiar with.  Auto Trader is responsible for 35% of the cars sold online, Ebay is responsible for 22% of the cars sold online.  With over half of the market, the online consulting firm a dealer hires needs to be well versed in both.
Today’s market demands the best for online sales from auto dealers.

Online Sales and The Auto Dealer

Auto Dealers are finding selling their vehicles online hit or miss at best.  Auto Trader and Ebay along with Smart Auction from General Motors are offering some of the best options to an Auto Dealer.  Why is it that less than 10% of the vehicles listed online are actually selling?  There are plenty of companies offering solutions but none seem to be working on a consistent basis.  What about the dealer with an internet department?  Is he any more successful?
Internet selling has gotten to be big business for the local Auto Dealer.  Large or small dealers have different needs but the same outcome.  Selling successfully online is a necessary addition to their bottom line and overall sales numbers.  Each and every dealer, no matter the size, needs to be able to sell effectively online.
The time and money that selling online costs the Auto Dealer can be a lot less than classic print, radio and television advertising.  So why has the local dealer stayed away from selling online?  Most are intimidated by a market that is selling less than 10% of the vehicles that are listed in a medium they do not understand.
Selling online needs an expertise that most dealers lack.  Some dealers lack the size to handle supporting an internet department.  There are companies out there that are offering a total solution to online sales.  These companies can handle an effective, profitable internet department for each and every dealer, no matter the size.
A comprehensive internet strategy is needed to sell effectively online. A good consulting firm that brings expertise in auto sales, internet sales and technical computer skills.  All of these skills are needed by the dealership to handle selling online effectively.  When a dealer sells online effectively, profits and sales soar.
Accomplishing a comprehensive plan to sell online is being offered by very few companies in today’s market.  What a dealer needs to look for is a consulting firm that is grounded in all three areas of online sales.  Consulting firms that have Auto dealer experience, online sales experience and technical experience with building the software to accomplish an ease to selling online are necessary to meet the goal for the average dealer.  These areas all need to be addressed to make a dealer self sufficient in online sales.
Dealers have found that keeping inventory fresh and up to date on their websites can be time consuming and not a profitable endeavor.  Profitability in today’s market is essential to a dealer whether small or large.  Online solutions are costly and hard to come by, but essential to a dealership.
Is there a solution?  Hiring a company with auto experience, internet experience and technical experience is what the smart dealers are doing.  Sell through ratios of these companies need to be checked and a company chosen that will effectively sell vehicles time and time again.  There is a secret to selling online that major dealers and small dealers alike have found.  To sell effectively online you need the right consulting firm to handle the details, leaving dealership personnel free to handle the sales.  Sales are a given when the right online sales consulting firm is left to handle the management of online sales strategies.  Hiring the right consulting firm for your online sales is essential to successfully selling online.  These companies can accomplish positive online sales results more cost effectively than the local Auto Dealer.